Rarely has something so small given so much pleasure to a Disney Dweeb.
Honestly, I don’t know how Imagineer Alex Wright does it. Take the entire history of a Disney theme park and then squeeze it into a book that’s so small you can literally fit it into your back pocket. Me? I can’t even tell the story of a single attraction without that article somehow mutating into this epic length saga that I never quite get around to finishing.
But Mr. Wright? He is a master of economy. Alex can take a tale as tangled as — say — the history of the development of Epcot and turn into a concise, informative & totally entertaining read.
And that’s just what Mr. Wright has done with his latest book, “The Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot of Walt Disney World” (Disney Editions, June 2006). Alex takes you all the way back to the early 1960s, back when Walt bought all of that swampland in Central Florida …
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… with the hope of building an experimental prototype community of tomorrow. This full-size city that was supposed to have been a living laboratory for American industry. A place where the country’s most ambitious corporations could then team with Walt Disney Productions to field test bold new technological innovations.
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That was the plan, anyway. But when Walt passed away in December of 1966 … Well, the artists & engineers that Disney left behind didn’t really think that they actually had what it took to pull off the whole futuristic-city thing. Which is why — over time — the EPCOT-the-city concept eventually mutated into an Epcot-the-theme-park idea. With the original version of World Showcase being proposed for a parcel of land along the southeastern shore of Seven Seas Lagoon.
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Mind you, this version of Epcot did actually retain one of Walt’s core concept for the project. That Epcot was supposed to be this living laboratory where American corporations could field test new technologies. Only — in this version — the “living laboratory” portion of that project would have been an entirely separate entity: The Future World Theme Center. Which would have been like … Well … Like someone crossed a theme park with an industrial park.
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Over time, the Imagineers eventually realized that their breaking-Epcot-down-into-its-core-components plan wasn’t really working. And that rather than build three separate attractions (I.E. World Showcase, the Future World Theme Center and the International Village) in order to try & make Walt Disney’s last & best dream finally come true … Well, perhaps the best thing to do would be to take a put-all-of-your-eggs-in-one-basket approach. As in: Create one huge theme park that would then try & celebrate all of the ideas & concepts that Epcot-the-city was supposed to have explored.
And given that Epcot was originally supposed to have been this futuristic city … Well, the Imagineers initially proposed some pretty far-out ideas for the Future World section of that theme park. I mean, check out Tim Delaney’s concept painting below …
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… Which obviously reflected WED’s initial artistic vision of Disney World’s second theme park. Which was that Epcot was supposed to be this permanent world’s fair.
However, as the Imagineers continued developing this project throughout the 1970s, concepts slowly began emerging that eventually found their way into the finished product. Take — for example — Tom Gilleon’s concept painting below. Which shows an early earthbound version of Spaceship Earth.
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That’s the real joy of Alex Wright’s “The Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot at Walt Disney World.” This guy’s clearly spent hours burrowing around in WDI’s IRC (I.E. Information Research Center), digging out rarely seen paintings & photographs that document the development of WDW’s second theme park. And with each page you turn, you learn more about the Imagineers’ struggle. The versions of this theme park that almost got built …
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… The Future World attractions that literally took years to finally make it off of the drawing board. Take — for example — the Imagineer’s first stab at Epcot’s “Health & Life” pavilion. Which (According to the Herbie Ryman concept painting that I’ve reproduced below) was supposed to have been housed in this huge show building that deliberately resembled a cluster of white blood cells.
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Mind you, even back then, the “Wonders of Life” pavilion was supposed to have featured a “Cranium Command” -like show. I mean, check out this initial concept drawing for that attraction’s Buzzy character. As he was quickly sketched out by Disney Legend X. Atencio.
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That (for me, anyway) is the real reason that every Disney diehard should pick up a copy of the Epcot Field Guide. I mean, where else are you going to get the chance to see Joe Rohde’s original concept paintings for Norway’s “Maelstrom” attraction?
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Or — better yet — get a sense of what the World Showcase’s U.K. pavilion would have really been like if the Imagineers hadn’t stinted on its construction. If WED had actually gone ahead with that “Crystal Palace” -themed extension that then was to have housed a full-scale replica of an authentic English music hall.
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There’s lots of great surprises like this to be found in Alex Wright’s “The Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot at Walt Disney World.” 128 pages (to be precise) full of terrific stories & intriguing trivia about this science & discovery park.
Which is why I’m now putting Alex’s new book in my Disney reference library. Right next to Mr. Wright’s first volume, “The Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.” Just so you know, I’m leaving some open space on that shelf for Wright’s upcoming Disney-MGM & Disney’s Animal Kingdom books. Which are reportedly due to be published in 2007 & 2008 respectively.
Mind you, I suppose that you could wait ’til 2008 (Which is when Disney Editions has supposedly scheduled the printing of the DAK field guide) so that you could then pick up the full set.
But why deny yourself so much pleasure for the next two years? Trust me, folks. There’s big fun to be found in this itty-bitty book. So go pick up a copy of Alex Wright’s “The Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot at Walt Disney World: An Imagineer’s-Eye Tour” today. You won’t be sorry.